The Independent National Electoral Commission has assured the people of Enugu North senatorial district of a free, fair and credible by-election scheduled for Saturday.

The head of the department of voter education at INEC Enugu, Chuka Achumie, gave the assurance on Thursday in Enugu.

The bye-election is being conducted to fill the vacant Enugu North senatorial seat following the death of Okey Ezea, who represented the district in the Senate.

The bye-election is expected to take place across the six local government areas that make up the Enugu North senatorial district, namely—Igbo-Etiti, Igbo-Eze North, Igbo-Eze South, Nsukka, Udenu, and Uzo-Uwani.

The electoral body had also cleared seven candidates from different political parties to contest the election.

Mr Achumie said that INEC had concluded necessary preparations and remained committed to conducting a transparent and credible electoral process.

“If we are not prepared to conduct free and credible elections, we will not conduct them,” he said.

According to him, all arrangements for the exercise are progressing as planned, with no major challenges currently confronting the commission.

He disclosed that the distribution of sensitive election materials was expected to commence on Thursday ahead of the poll.

The head of voter education also noted that all cleared political parties and candidates would be given a level playing field during the election.

On voter education, he said the commission had continued to sensitise eligible voters on the importance of participating in the electoral process and conducting themselves peacefully during the exercise.

He urged residents of the senatorial district to come out and exercise their civic responsibility, assuring them that adequate measures had been put in place to ensure a smooth and credible election.

(NAN)